Science Fiction-Free September 2026

It's September, and that's the month when I declare a moratorium on reading science fiction, usually in favour of something I wouldn't normally just casually pick up.

This year, though, I left the planning too late, and when it came down to figuring out what I might like to read this month, I didn't find myself too enthusiastic. Besides, there was a list of books on my to-read list that I was looking forward to, and I don't really feel like holding them back.

Looking at my list of books "to read," I discovered that there are five consecutive ones that aren't science fiction:

• Sartoris, by William Faulkner: I just started this one, and it's not terribly short. So instead of finishing it before letting SFFS start in earnest, I'll just name it the first book.
• After That, the Dark, by Andrew Klavan: The fifth entry in his Cameron Winter series of mystery novels. Also the penultimate one with Find Me Nowhere coming out on October 20. which happens to be the same day as the next Jack Reacher thriller. I've enjoyed the Cameron Winter books quite a bit so far, so when October comes I'll actually have a hard tim deciding which to read first.
• Pressure Depth, by Jack Stewart: The most recent entry in the posthumous series of Jack Ryan novels originally by Tom Clancy. Stewart is a new author to the series. I don't expect great things from this series, but they're generally a good way to spend a couple of evenings.
• The Nutmeg of Consolation, by Patrick O'Brian: I've been reading through the Aubrey-Maturin series for several years now. This is, I believe, the fourteenth book. The title has intrigued me, to say the least.
• Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton: Like the Ryanverse stuff, Crichton is not exactly highbrow literature, but his ideas are always interesting, even when he departs from the science-fiction and techno-thriller genres.

So a month of fairly light reading rather than heavy reading. If I get through these five books, which wouldn't be difficult, I'll fill out September with some of the ones I actually considered as alternatives: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. These have been on my to-read for some time, and it's high time they got ticked off.